I beg of you...your EASY and TASTY vegetarian meals! Visitors for 5 days...

[BigTeuchLittleTeuch]

Breakfasts - I reckon will be covered by bagels/croissants/fruit salad/type of thing.

Lunches - we can do vegetable tart, salads, quiche, sadwiches...

Dinner?? They do eat fish, so we will probably have salmon once and I was thinking of a thai prawn curry but have no idea what to put in it apart from prawns

I am an "enthusiastic" cook, but my actual abilities are limited...plus I have a toddler and 6mth to feed and look after.

I am forever grateful to you as always

Lovely pasta recipe:

tin tomatoes
large glug of olive oil
finely chopped garlic
bunch of basil, chopped
penne pasta (enough for 4 - whole recipe makes enough for 4)
ball of mozzarella, diced
150 g fresh parmesan, grated

In a medium pan, heat the olive oil and add the tomatoes and garlic, season with salt and black pepper

Cook the pasta; drain and return to the pan

Add the basil and the mozzarella and half of the parmesan to the tomatoes and then tip into the pasta

Put into an oven dish, sprinkle the rest of the parmesan on the top and then bake until browned on top (probably only 10 minutes in a hot oven)

serve with a green salad

Aubergine and courgette bake:

2 aubergines
4 large courgettes
large onion
tin tomatoes
garlic (as much as you like)
two balls mozzarella
50g grated cheddar
olive oil
salt and pepper

slice aubergines and courgettes lengthways, then shallow fry or griddle until browned slightly

make tomato sauce - gently fry sliced/chopped onion and garlic, with salt and pepper, then add tomatoes and cook for around 10-20 minutes till reduced/thickened slightly

In an ovendish, layer aubergines, mozzarella, courgettes and tomato sauce, finishing with a layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the grated cheddar and bake until the cheese is browned

chickpea and potato curry - fry an onion chopped very finely, until golden (10-15mins), add peppers, ideally red, but other colours are fine too. While this is cooking, chop up some waxy potatoes as chunky as you like but not too big, and parboil for a few minutes. Add to the onions and peppers, fry for a minute or too, then add a couple of HUGE dollops of Pataks curry paste of your choice (i like dhansak for veggie), fry for a further few minutes, then add a tin of tomatoes and some water/stock (a little to lift it slightly) and a tin of chickpeas. Simmer for 30 mins or so (20 mins if pushed for time) and add a little more water/stock if the sauce gets too thick. Once cooked, if you want to, stir in a little yoghurt, or serve on the side. And you can also add some spinach for a few minutes near the end if you want to as well. While this is cooking, cook some basmati rice, and add some spices (or serve plain if you prefer), serve with Naan or chapati, poppadum and pickles.

tortilla/spanish omelette with salad and crusty bread

soup n sarnies

pasta with a tomatoey sauce

greek salad

Penne with mushrooms and courgettes

Fry onions, garlic in plenty of olive oil, throw in courgettes and mushrooms and cook till done, throw in some parsley. Mix with pasta, loads of parmesan and pepper.

It's delicious

Tabbouleh.. easy and delicious.

Baked potatoes

I do a meat-free lasagne that everyone loves and you can do in advance. Make a huge vat of tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes, onion and garlic and then layer it with buffalo mozarella, basil leaves and top with parmesan. Bake for 45 mins.

Cauliflower and macaroni cheese and salad

Quiche (home made or bought) and greek salad/potato salad, fresh crusty bread (greek salad - nice green leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, black olives, feta cheese broken up, simple olive oil and vinegar dressing - think thats it, might be more that I have forgotten)

Cauliflower cheese and salad - do not bother cooking the caulifower, make cheese sauce with several different cheeses and a bit of mustard, pour over broken up cauliflower, cover in foil, place in oven for 35 minutes, take out, add grated cheese, put back in the oven for 10-15 until golden brown. While it is cooking, make a simple salad, and chips if you are greedy like me . You can add to this buy cooking some pasta shells/macaroni until al dente and putting in the sauce with the cauliflower before placing in the oven.

They amde my fave on GMTV this mornng

Kebabs made with halloumi, red onion, etc

they servedwith coleslawmadewithred onion, red cabbage, carrot and salted peanuts- yum

For a simple Thai Prawn curry just buy either a green or red Thai curry paste and bung some coconut milk in it.

Make it simple for yourself and buy a ready made up pack of veg for the purpose. Or peppers, baby corn, sugar snap peas, or normal frozen peas, courgettes are quite good.

Noodles are easier and quicker to do than rice.

Vegetarian fajitas, with grilled veg with cajun seasoning, lettuce, cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and tortillas.

(With the fajitas you only really have to cook the veg unless you want to make the guacamole and salsa from scratch - not too difficult)

Spinach & Mushroom lasagne - absolutely delish and a hit with my meat-eating friends too!

115g butter + extra for greasing
garlic
115g shallots
225g mushrooms
450g spinach
225g grated cheddar cheese
nutmeg
basil
60g flour
pint milk
120g cheshire cheese

Melt half butter, add garlic shallots and mushrooms and fry over low heat. Stir in spinach, cheddar, nutmeg and basil. Season to taste and set aside.

Melt remaining butter in another pan, add flour and cook stirring constantly for 1 min. Gradually add milk, whisking until smooth. Stir in half of the cheshire cheese and season to taste.

Layer lasagne into dish, top with remaining cheese and pop into preheated oven (200oC/400oF/GM 6) for 30-40 mins.

Also freezes very well so you could make in advance?

Another fave of mine is kedgeree using salmon fillets and smoked salmon - very filling and very tasty!

I'm doing a lot of risotto at the moment which is super easy.

A lightish summer version is fennel risotto:

1 fennel
(sage leaves optional)
arborio rice (follow instructions on pack to work out how much)
garlic cloves
Marigold bouillon
Twinings sweet fennel tea bags
White wine
Parmesan
Parsley

Make a jug of stock first using the Marigold bouillon and one or two fennel tea bags - leave to stew so that it has quite a fennelly taste and take the tea bags out before using.

chop the fennel and lightly fry in butter with a few broken sage leaves if you like sage. When the fennel has softened a little add the rice and stir it in until coated in butter. Add a generous splash of white wine and stir in. Pour in stock to cover and stir in. Add some crushed garlic (as much or little as you feel appropriate).

Keep adding stock and the odd splash of white wine as the rice absorbs it until the rice is tender enough (the packet should give you a guide as to how long this will take).

Serve with finely chopped parsley and parmesan cheese. A green side salad goes v. well too.

If you want to do a fully italian meal then you could do bruschetta for nibbles then melon and parma ham starter, risotto main course and ice-cream to finish. Very little cooking involved and it all looks impressive.

1. salmon with lemon cous cous
2. lentil shepherds pie (basically a lentil, bean, carrot, mushroom, onion mix instead of the normal lamb)
3. king prawn fajitas
4. vegetable tagine (root veg layered in pot with small amount water/stock plus large dose of moroccan seasoning)
5. roast veg, yorkshire puds, stuffing and cheese sauce.

job done

These recipes sound lovely but 5 days! Make sure they pay for a takeaway for one night at least so you can have a night off!

Rattatouille (sp?) - I make a batch, add a tin (or 2) of chickpeas and serve with cous cous or rice as a kind of Morrocan stew. Depending on taste and ages of those concerned I add cumin (at the start when frying onions for the ratatouille) and cook up with cinnamon sticks, DS (9 months) loves it - spices and all.

Nut loaf -Granose makes yummy mixes that many supermarkets and health food shops sell. Or use a packet of stuffing and add chopped nuts!

Falafel, pitta bread and salad.

"Build your own Mexican" - dishes of veg andmeat chilli, refried beans, salad, salsa, nachos, tacos, tortillas, guacamole, sour cream etc and get everyone to DIThemselves (and finished off with Ben and Jerry's!).

Macaroni Cheese, pasta bake
Veg sausage and mash

DS yelling, gotta go.

Courgette and Feta cheese filo pie
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Simmer 2lb courgettes in 4 fl oz olive oil - I do this the night before - you want to end up with green mush. When it's cool, beat in 3 eggs, 8oz crumbled Feta cheese, 1tbsp dried oregano, salt and black pepper.
Take a pack of filo pastry, and line a ceramic baking dish, bottom and sides, with filo, oiling (or not) between layers. My dish is the size of an A4 piece of paper and about 2 inches deep - maybe a tad more. Pour in the courgette mixture, and then top with more filo. Bake at 180 degrees C for 35 minutes until golden brown.
Great hot and cold and at room temperature. I use an oil spray on the filo which makes it super quick to do - if you do the courgettes the night before, it's just an assembly job. I once baked it for over an hour because I forgot it was in the oven and it came to no harm at all.
Serve with salad stuff.

Ah, I knew MNers could dome up with the goods

We wil definitely eat out at least one night, but lots of lovely ideas and I am writing the shopping list as we speak [type?]

Riven - pescetarian??

pumpkin pasta from waitrose shove from packet int pan - 3 mins

cover with whatever

This Tuna recipe is amazing

This onion tart is also delicious...could be eaten cold for lunch

Utterly divine porcini pasta sauce

Also:

Nasi Goreng:

Groundnut oil
One onion, chopped
Pack of tofu, chopped into approx 1cm cubes
2 cloves garlic chopped/crushed
1 red chilli finely chopped
Half a bunch of spring onions, sliced
1 cup of (uncooked) thai rice
soy sauce to taste (I use quite a bit, approx 2-3 tbs...maybe more?)
1 fried egg per person

Start boiling the rice.
Fry onion in oil until it starts to soften. Add garlic, chilli and tofu. Fry until tofu is golden.
Add spring onions, drained rice and soy sauce. Heat through.

Serve it topped with a fried egg.

All the recipes are really quick and easy - I have two pre-schoolers, so they are achievable with small people clinging to your knees

PS - if you do salmon, you might want to think about getting the wild variety. We are pescetarians, but only eat non-farmed fish.

Tray of roast root veg-carrots parsnips butternut squash sweet potatoes and baby new potatoes and grilled/pan-fried halloumi with a garlic and lemon dressing.
Salmon with mirin (Queen Nigella)
Prawn stir-fry-super quick
broad bean pea and feta salad with some good bread and soup/ (gazpacho if this weather continues)
We have a family of four coming to stay for 4 nights with me working a 3 year old and 11 month old next week so I know how you feel! I can't quite get my head round quantities required catering for 8 rather than 4!